...when I first heard the term "blog" I conjured images of facing off teethgnashing monsters and finding myself being swallowed in quicksand... two experiences I hope to get through life without. Then a few months ago my daughter, now living too far from "home" in Scotland, decided to keep up with family correspondence by starting a blog of her own - and I suddenly found myself avidly reading her blogs (from Blogger! talk about small world even in cyberspace, eh?) And now here I am, actually writing my own!!! Life does have a way of coming full circle. And I'm grateful that thus far, there's not been any quicksand - but I'm not sure yet about the teeth-gnashing.
I didn't hesitate when I read about the 23Things opportunity (thank you, WayneCounty RESA!) I jumped on it immediately. I want to keep up with my kids - my students. I want to keep pace with the world in which I live. What a thrill for me "back in the day" to walk down the street with my transistor radio jammed up to my ear - and now the kids beg to have the opportunity to listen to their Ipod while creating their artwork. Dimes for payphones and long tangled telephone cords to trip over from the kitchen wall phone have given way to cell phones on which kids today can text fifteen of their friends in the same amount of time it takes me to realize their cell phone is on in class and that I must enforce the school's policy that bans them. And the beat goes on...
When I, as art student, made an error in my drawing and tore a hole in the paper erasing for the fourth time, I had to begin all over again. Today I encourage students to scan their battered sketch into the graphics lab computer and use the waicom tablet to work it out on the screen, printing it when done. When I need them to understand concepts like visualization and cropping their subject while familiarizing themselves with photoshop and a digital camera, I send them out to learn their ABCs from a new perspective - a project that used to be done with old magazines, scissors and too much glue.
Do I still believe in mastering shading values into a portrait with charcoal or Ebony pencil? You betcha. Do I continue to teach painting techniques and do my kids take penned notes on paper and keep up with on-going sketchbook assignments? Most definitely. But I am partnering the hands-on hand-crafting with the hands-on computer work that I believe can make original art become even more relevant to the life and style of today's student. And the more I understand that cyber life and style, the more I can make a difference to my kids.
I think it was Gertrude Stein who said, "Art isn't everything, it's just about everything..." and that means I have to know where to go for everything -- and these days, that means a daily trip to cyberspace. So here I am. Thanks again for the invitation, WCRESA.
5 comments:
I love your picture of the ABC's. How did you do it? Did you get the letters from Flickr? I've been exploring on Flickr but don't know how to put it altogether so it shows up on my blog. I can get the individual letters. (This is my frustration with Thing 7 or 8.) And there you seem to have it!
As I mentioned in my posting, it's my students doing the photography, using our school's digital camera to look around school to creatively discover their specific assigned letters from the alphabet. Then they return to the graphics lab where they learn how to download their photos to a computer, manipulate their photos in Adobe Photoshop by cropping and rotating until they have just the "letter" that they "saw" somewhere in the school building while out on their mini-field trip around school during classtime. I "collage" it together on the computer and Voila!
Where are my manners!!! Thank you for loving their alphabet image, silverstudent! I'll pass on your kindly pat-on-the-shoulder to my kids.
First off, I chose to comment on your post because I liked your "name." As I am not an artist, stick people are pretty much all I can handle (luckily my first graders don't mind).
I'm marrying a very artsy/tech-savvy man and he has commented often that he is jealous of all of the great art/tech classes that are offered now in high school. I showed him your ABC picture and he loved it :) What a great idea.
I'm responding to your response...Too Cool-loves reading your blog. I sit here late at night, envisioning sleeping, trying to move along with my "23Things", not knowing what I've gotten myself into, and I come across your response. Upon opening your blog I am blown away by your reflections and your student's art work! Great job! As to Art2.0, I can open this in school, had it saved to my favorites. Can't access YouTube, TeacherTube, or any of their uploaded videos...but can access their blogs. Lets stay in touch!
Post a Comment